James the Great

James the Great (also called James, son of Zebedee; James, brother of John; Saint James the Greater; Saint James the Elder; Saint James Son of Thunder; Saint James the Major; Saint Jacob; James the Apostle; or Santiago) was one of the twelve apostles of Jesus. According to the New Testament, he was the second apostle to die—after Judas Iscariot—and the first to be martyred. He is the patron saint of Spain, and tradition holds that his remains are kept in Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, Spain.

In the New Testament

James was born into a family of Jewish fishermen on the Sea of Galilee. His parents were Zebedee and Salome, and Salome was a sister of Mary, the mother of Jesus, making James a cousin of Jesus. He is called "the Greater" to distinguish him from the other apostle James "the Lesser," with "greater" meaning older or taller, not more important. He was the brother of John the Apostle.

The Synoptic Gospels say James was one of the first disciples to join Jesus. He and John were preparing to fish with their father by the seashore when Jesus called them. Along with his brother John and Peter, James formed an informal inner circle among the Twelve. Jesus allowed only these three to witness the raising of Jairus' daughter, the transfiguration, and his agony in the Garden of Gethsemane.

James and John (or, in another tradition, their mother) asked Jesus to let them sit at his right and left in his glory. Jesus rebuked them, asking if they could drink from his cup and saying that honor was not his to grant. The other apostles were annoyed. James and his brother also wanted to call down fire on a Samaritan town, but Jesus rebuked them.

The Acts of the Apostles records that "Herod the king" (usually identified as Herod Agrippa) had James executed "by the sword." Henry Alford suggests he was probably beheaded. Nixon suggests his death may have been triggered by his fiery temper, which earned him and his brother the nickname Boanerges, or "Sons of Thunder." F. F. Bruce contrasts this story with the liberation of Saint Peter, calling the fact that James died while Peter escaped a "mystery of divine providence."

Veneration

In Catholic tradition, Saint James is the patron saint of Spain, and legend says his remains are in Santiago de Compostela. The name Santiago comes from the Latin Sancti Iacobi ("church or sanctuary of Saint James"), which evolved into a personal name in Spanish and Portuguese (Tiago, Thiago, Diego, Diogo). The pilgrimage to his grave, the "Way of St. James," has been the most popular pilgrimage for Western European Catholics since the Early Middle Ages, though its modern revival stems from Walter Starkie's 1957 book The Road to Santiago.

The Pilgrims of St. James. In 2018, 327,378 pilgrims registered as having completed the final 100 km walk (or 200 km by bicycle) to qualify for a Compostela. When 25 July falls on a Sunday, it is a "Holy Year" (a Jacobean holy year), and a special east door opens for entrance into Santiago Cathedral.

Jubilee years follow a 6-5-6-11 pattern (except when the last year of a century is not a leap year, which can yield a gap of 7 or 12 years). In the 2004 Holy Year, 179,944 pilgrims were received; in 2010, 272,412. The most recent Holy Year was 2021; the next will be 2027.

Feast

The feast day of Saint James is 25 July on the liturgical calendars of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, True Orthodox, Anglican, Lutheran, and certain other Protestant churches. Tradition holds he was martyred on this date in 44 AD, though some historians argue it was chosen to coincide with the feast of Saint Christopher. He is also commemorated on 30 April in the Orthodox calendar (which, for churches using the Julian Calendar, falls on 13 May in the Gregorian Calendar) and on 30 June (Synaxis of the Apostles). The National Day of Galicia is also 25 July, as Saint James is its patron saint.

Jerusalem

The site of his martyrdom is within the Armenian Apostolic Cathedral of Saint James in the Armenian Quarter of Jerusalem. The Chapel of Saint James the Great, to the left of the sanctuary, marks the traditional place where King Agrippa ordered him beheaded (Acts 12:1–2). His head is believed to be buried under the altar, marked by a piece of red marble and surrounded by six votive lamps.

The 12th-century Historia Compostelana, commissioned by Diego Gelmírez, summarizes the legend of Saint James as believed at Compostela at that time. Two central claims are that James preached the gospel in Hispania as well as in the Holy Land, and that after his martyrdom by Herod Agrippa, his followers carried his body by sea to Spain.